"
These words of Minnehaha made Mary very angry. She thought more of Sagastao
than she did of any other member of the family, and nothing threw her into
a rage quicker than for anyone to cross him or even to question the wisdom
of anything he said. Now, indignant that his father had been obliged to
call him into his study for some misdemeanor, Mary was greatly annoyed to
hear these words.
"O, pshaw, Sakehow," said Sagastao; "do not be so touchy. I deserved the
talking to that papa gave me. It was wrong of me to whack that Indian boy
with my bat as I did, and I ought to have been punished; so if you have any
jolly good stories about bad Indian boys, and how they were punished, why,
let us have one."
This confession of her favorite, who, after his temper cooled, was always
quick to admit that he had been in the wrong, quite pacified Mary, and she
settled down on the wolfskin rug with the children and began her story.
"Long ago all the Indians believed in Windegoos and other spirits that were
more or less friendly to good people. Some were man-eaters and, of course,
were always to be feared. Some Indians were in such fear of these cannibals
that they would never leave the wigwam after dark for fear of being gobbled
up by some of the monsters that might be skulking about.
"There was one great creature called Annungitee, or Two Faced. He had a
great habit of looking out for bad boys, very bad boys. It was said that he
could not see really good boys; that they were like glass, and he could not
see them.
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